Live from London Walking and Cycling Conference

Streets Ahead

For this special episode Laura Laker chairs a live podcast recording from the annual London Walking and Cycling Conference.

The London Walking and cycling conference, for those of you who don’t know, is an annual get-together where London gets to be smug and show off a bit. It started life as the Hackney walking and cycling conference in 2017 and has gone from strength to strength, attracting speakers from all over the world.

This year’s theme is: ‘taking walking and cycling to the next level: the path to climate neutrality’. We all know active travel has a huge role to play in cutting carbon emissions, for shorter trips as well as potentially part of longer journeys along with public transport.

According to Transport for London active travel is up 40% on pre-pandemic levels, against an 11% rise across the rest of the UK - of course the whole of the UK is a diverse place and there are pockets of higher growth, but we’re here to ask, what is London doing right, and what can the rest of the UK learn from it?

By law the UK needs to cut its emissions by 2050. Transport is 27% of emissions, and electric vehicles aren’t going to get us there. In short, we aren’t going fast enough. What do we need to do to reach climate neutrality?

With her to discuss the topic 'what can the rest of the UK learn from London' are:

Councillor Mete Coban, in charge of energy, waste, transport, and the environment for Hackney Council - so you get emails about dog poo, parking and bins - the full trifecta

Liz Clements - Birmingham Council’s cabinet member for transport

Phil Jones - technical advisor to the Walking and Cycling commissioner for the West Midlands, Adam Tranter

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Episode edited by Clare Mansell

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